SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Everything Mike Vrabel told players was possible in his first season as head coach of the New England Patriots happened, so even the elder statesmen on the roster are sticking with their plan to follow the leader as Super Bowl LX preparation shifts gears on Wednesday.
“He’s done it,” right tackle Morgan Moses, 34, said in morning media sessions before the Patriots boarded multiple buses for practice at Stanford University. “He’s been to the Super Bowl. He’s won the Super Bowl. He’s been in our shoes as a player.”
Red-zone and situational refinement are the main areas of focus in the continued installation of New England’s gameplan for the Seattle Seahawks.
Moses, who said he has known wide receiver Stefon Diggs since they were high school sophomores, is five days from his first Super Bowl and a month shy of turning 35 in his 12th NFL season.
Diggs, 32, suits up for his 162nd career game on Sunday night but also is in his first Super Bowl. He said he chose to sign with the Patriots in free agency in March after weighing an offer from the Broncos because of Vrabel.
“He’s like a part of the team but he’s a coach,” Diggs said. “Everyone has their own hand shake and he’s in there with the guys. He has that perfect balance between coach and ‘used to be’ player.”
Vrabel said the next two days are critical for the Patriots. He kept the focus on game day and stressed to players doing the same might be the difference between a win and loss. He believes returning to the normal work week routine is just what the Patriots need after a day off limited to team meetings and a few activities near the hotel on Tuesday.
“It’s a whirlwind,” Vrabel said, contrasting his experience as a player to leading the Patriots back to the Super Bowl as head coach.
“With the week off, I felt like it was important to be intentional with the schedule and not go eight days straight. At the same time, emphasizing (to players and staff) something you do today in practice and how we execute it as planned is going to decide the game on Sunday.”
Vrabel told players there are few sacrifices he wouldn’t make — with specifics regarding body parts he’d sacrifice spared — to win another Super Bowl. Players took it as another example of the depths of care and concern Vrabel has for his team.
“When you love the man next to you, when you want to win and succeed for him and that’s a team belief, there is nothing you can’t accomplish,” running back Rhamondre Stevenson said.
